1130/0930 Czech opposition’s briefing against government church restitution plan

1400/1200 Polish July average wages

Hungarian budget data and earnings from OTP Bank Nyrt. (OTP.BU) are in focus, as is Czech government plans to return $2.8 billion in religious assets, seized by the former communist regime.

Hungary’s seasonally adjusted net government financing requirement–an estimate of the budget deficit–was 3.5% of gross domestic product in the four quarters to the second quarter of 2012, the National Bank of Hungary said Friday.

Advertisement

Hungary’s government is targeting a 2.5% of GDP budget deficit in 2012 in order to convince the European Union that it can lift an Excessive Deficit Procedure started against the country when it joined the EU in 2004.

Consolidated net profit was 41.1 billion forints ($183 million) in the second quarter, compared with HUF37.3 billion a year earlier, well above the HUF34.4 billion profit forecast in a poll of 21 analysts provided by the company. That translated into earnings of HUF153 a share, compared with HUF139 a year earlier.

In Prague, leaders of the opposition Social Democrats are scheduled to discuss the recent rejection by the country’s upper house of a bill to return the assets seized from Czech religious organizations after the communist regime came to power in 1948.

The politically divisive bill, sponsored by the right-of-center coalition government of Prime Minister Petr Necas, is scheduled for a revote in the lower house in September ahead of the autumn regional and upper house elections.

Opinion polls have shown that the bill, which has become a key election issue, is unpopular among voters in this highly secular country.

In Warsaw, Poland’s private sector average wage growth is expected to slow to an annual 4% in July from 4.3% in June. Polish employment levels are expected to be flat in July, compared with a 0.1% increase the month before.

OTHER NEWS

POLAND: Poland is determined to this year organize an initial public offering for its real-estate holding company, Polski Holding Nieruchomosciowy SA, but won’t sell the company at any price, said Mikolaj Budzanowski, the country’s treasury minister. “We’re determined to organize this transaction this year, but it will depend on the price. For sure I won’t offer a significant discount,” he told reporters Thursday.

POLAND: Poland’s central government budget deteriorated in January through July, the finance ministry said Thursday. The budget deficit stood at 24.34 billion zloty ($7.31 billion) in January through July,69.6% of the 2012 target, the ministry said.

HUNGARY: The Hungarian government has spent around 80% of nationalized private pension fund wealth, business daily Vilaggazdasag reported Thursday. In March last year Budapest took over the deposited amounts with the declared purpose of protecting retirement savings from what it said were questionable practices pursued by some private-sector providers.

ROMANIA: The French government is considering giving Bulgarian and Romanian nationals in France working rights equal to other Europeans, after the dismantlement of Gypsy camps sparked controversy for President Francois Hollande and drew comparisons with the policies of his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy. In the past week, French authorities have raided makeshift camps inhabited by Gypsies, also known as Roma, in Lille, Lyon and Marseille and evicted them. According to Human Rights Watch, the French government flew 240 Romanian Gypsies back to Romania on a flight last Thursday and gave them up to EUR300 each.

Veronika Gulyas in Budapest and Marcin Sobczyk in Warsaw contributed to this article.

About Emerging Europe

Emerging Europe Real Time provides sharp analysis and insight into what’s making news in Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on the expertise of our reporters in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey, the site provides an inside track on economics, politics and business in this emerging part of the European continent.